1,134 Mothers Set Record For Breast-feeding

August 5, 2002|By Greg Cannon, Contra Costa (calif.) Times

BERKELEY, Calif. -- More than 1,100 babies, just trying to get meals from their moms, set a world record in the process Saturday as Berkeley easily claimed from Australia the title for the most women breast-feeding together in one place.

Organizers will submit to the Guinness Book of Records a list of names, a video and other proof that 1,134 mothers were simultaneously breast-feeding at least that number of babies in the Berkeley Community Theater, topping the Australian record of 767 mother-baby couplings set just last week.

The event, part of World Breastfeeding Week, drew moms and their babies from the Bay Area as well as some from as far as Houston and Wisconsin.

It was held to draw attention to the benefits of breast-feeding for mothers and children. Breast-feeding advocates point to the health benefits for breast-fed babies and the bonding experience it affords both mother and child.